


Madame Park's Academy

by BritHistorian



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), Mamamoo, Park Sandara
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Asexual Character, Autistic Character, Boarding School, Boxing & Fisticuffs, Etiquette, F/F, Gen, Proper Young Ladies, Spies & Secret Agents, Swordfighting, Training
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-05-20 04:00:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14887236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BritHistorian/pseuds/BritHistorian
Summary: When Jisoo's parents tell her she's going to Madame Park's Academy, they tell her it will prepare her to be a lady and to marry well.  As she starts learning her way around the school, though, she discovers that everything is not what it seems.  What is Madame Park really training her for?  What does she know the locations of all the alumnae of her academy?  And why does the curriculum include fencing and shooting in addition to sewing and drawing?  Jisoo and her roommate Moonbyul gradually learn what's really going on, and what they're actually being prepared for.  Are you ready to find out?





	1. Jisoo's Arrival at Madame Park's Academy

Kim Jisoo leaned back, the clip-clopping of the horse's hooves almost lulling her to sleep. She thought about pulling back the curtain and looking out again, but she knew she'd only see either fields or forests. Wherever Madame Park's Academy was, it was far from anywhere. Sighing deeply, she tugged down the ends of her sleeves and adjusted her gloves. She closed her eyes and remembered her last conversation with her parents. She'd begged them not to send her away, that she'd be more obedient, but they just kept repeating that Madame Park could give her a better future than they could. But something rang false about the whole thing - they seemed as if they wanted to send her just as little as she wanted to go, but for some reason they had to. So she'd dropped the subject and finished packing her trunk. She'd brought almost all of her clothes, her few books, and a few other things. Soon after, the carriage arrived and she'd kissed her parents good-bye and climbed in. The coachman strapped her trunk to the back, then climbed up to his seat, chirruped to the horses, and she was on her way. They'd stopped briefly for lunch, and a couple of times even more briefly to change horses. Now the sun was setting, and she was wondering if they'd reach Madame Park's Academy that day, or if they'd have to stay overnight at an inn somewhere.

An inn! Jisoo had never been to an inn, but she'd read about them. They were exciting, dangerous places, with a gang of thieves meeting in the back room, or maybe a band of smugglers using it as a base of operations, or maybe a company of revolutionary soldiers, preparing for the uprising against the wicked king. Either way, she hoped she'd be safe at an inn. The coachman didn't look like he'd be much help. He was older than her father, smelled of beer, and had barely spoken a dozen words to her since they'd started that morning. She doubted he'd even notice she needed protecting, much less be able to actually do anything.

Just then the horses came to a halt. Jisoo leaned to the side and moved the curtain to the side. The large manor house they were stopped in front of couldn't possibly be an inn, so it must be Madame Park's Academy. She could hear the coachman at the back of the coach unfastening her trunk. She unfastened the door and climbed out of the coach, almost tripping over her skirt in the process. The coachman slung her trunk over his shoulder and led her up to the house. He grasped the ornate brass knocker and knocked on the door. After a brief moment, the door was opened by a young woman of about Jisoo's age. She was wearing a grey skirt and coat with a ruffled white blouse, apparently a uniform, and had long, dark blue hair.

"Miss Kim Jisoo," the coachman said, "to be enrolled at Madame Park's Academy." And with that, he walked back to the coach, climbed up to his seat, and drove off.

Jisoo looked at the blue-haired woman again. "Hello, Miss," she said. "Are you a teacher here?"

The blue-haired woman laughed. "No, no - I'm a student just like you. My name is Moonbyul. Let's get your trunk inside and then we can go tell Madame Park that you're here. The term started two weeks ago so you'll have a lot of catching up to do. We'll have to get you some uniforms. I hope Madame Park assigns you to be my roommate - it's so lonely being the only one without a roommate." As she talked, Moonbyul grabbed one handle of Jisoo's trunk. Jisoo grabbed the other and together they managed to wrestle it inside.

"You wait right here," Moonbyul said. "I'll go tell Madame Park that you're here." And with that she turned and left, leaving Jisoo alone in the front hall. She used the time to take stock of her surroundings. An umbrella stand by the door held eight umbrellas. There were several couches, a pair of wingback chairs by the fireplace, a card table with four chairs, and the largest globe Jisoo had ever seen. Having always been rather fond of maps, Jisoo stepped forward and examined the globe, which came up to her shoulder and was so big she couldn't reach around it. She noticed seven yellow pins and one gold pin clustered together in the mountains of Korea and a scattering of red, green, and occasional silver pins over the rest of the world, with particular concentrations in the larger cities.

Jisoo was snapped out of her reverie by the sound of footsteps. Moonbyul was returning, followed by a striking-looking woman in a black dress. Her black hair hung loose down her back, and her eyes seemed to lock onto Jisoo magnetically.

"Welcome, Kim Jisoo," the woman said. "I am Madame Sandara Park. Once you get settled in, if you're a good girl, you'll be allowed to call me Dara. Until then, you will call me Madame Park. Moonbyul will be your roommate. She'll help you get settled in tonight, and then make sure you make it to class on time tomorrow." Turning to Moonbyul, she said "Moonbyul, until further notice, Jisoo is your responsibility. Her demerits are your demerits, her punishments, your punishments." Madame Park took a step toward the globe and opened a drawer in its mount. Removing a yellow pin from the drawer, she stuck it in the globe together with the other yellow pins. Turning toward Jisoo, she said "You are now a student at Madame Park's Academy. In time you will learn what a rare opportunity this is. In the meantime, keep your head down, work hard, and stay out of trouble."

Jisoo recovered from her suprise enough to remember to curtsy. "Yes, Madame Park."

After smiling at Jisoo for a moment, Madame Park turned and walked back into the depths of the house. Once she was out of sight, Moonbyul grabbed Jisoo's arm and squealed. "EEEEEE! I'm so glad you're going to be my roommate. I can already tell we're going to be the best of friends." Releasing Jisoo's arm, Moonbyul picked up one end of the trunk again. "Come on," she said. "We've got a lot to do before bedtime if you're going to be ready for class in the morning."

 

As they struggled to maneuver the trunk up a steep and narrow staircase, Jisoo asked Moonbyul "Is Madame Park always like that? She seems kind of -" it took her a moment to find the word she was looking for "intense."

"Oh yes," Moonbyul said. "Madame Park is very intense. She just wants us to be the best we can is all."

Jisoo stopped short. "Madame Park? Don't you get to call her Dara?"

Moonbyul shook her head. "Only Jennie gets to call her Dara." She started them moving up the stairs again.

Jisoo struggled to keep up with Moonbyul, and found herself wishing she'd packed fewer things. Also, she wasn't sure what it was, but something about the way Moonbyul said Jennie's name made Jisoo wonder what was going on there.

"So..." Jisoo started, trying to get Moonbyul talking again. "How many students are there at Madame Park's?"

"Now that you're here," Jisoo began, stopping to open a door, "there are 8 of us." Moonbyul led the way to put Jisoo's trunk down at the end of the bed. "There's you and me, of course. In the room next door there's Jennie and Solar. Across the hall are Wheein and Hwasa, and next to them are Lalisa and Rose." She leaned closer to Jisoo and lowered her voice slightly. "Rose's real name is Chaeyoung, but Madame Park insists that she should be called Rose."

"Good afternoon."

Jisoo turned toward the door of her room and what was apparently another student, this one with soft pink hair. Jisoo wasn't sure what the correct response was upon meeting a new schoolmate, but she know she couldn't go wrong if she stuck to the conversations she'd memorized from mother's etiquette guide. She dropped into a curtsy and said "How do you doo. I'm Kim Jisoo."

The pink-haired woman clapped her hands. "Oh, aren't you delightful! Jennie'd better watch out or she won't be the teacher's favorite anymore." She stepped forward, her hand extended to clasp Jisoo's. "I'm Solar. I hope that you and I shall become quite good friends."

Moonbyul stepped in between them. "There'll be plenty of time for that later. For now, I've got to find Jisoo a uniform and get her dressed for dinner. Imagine how cross Madame Park would be if Jisoo was late for dinner on her first day!"

"Well, I won't delay you," Solar said, walking out of the room. She stopped in the doorway and waved to Jisoo. "Farewell, Kim Jisoo. I hope you enjoy it here."

 

As she followed Moonbyul to the uniform closet, Jisoo said "She seemed nice."

"Who? Oh, Solar? Yeah, she's nice enough if she thinks you might have something she needs. She's already decided I'm of no use to her, so most days she barely talks to me at all."

Jisoo pondered this as they walked through the corridors. At her house, everyone was used to Jisoo and always said exactly what they meant. Apparently that was not going to be the case here. She felt her palms getting sweaty as she got nervous at the prospect of interacting with her classmates and never being entirely sure if they were being totally honest with her.

"Presenting, the uniform closet." Moonbyul grabbed a candle from a shelf by the door, lit it from the hallway sconce, then used it to light half a dozen other candles scattered around the room. Jisoo saw that the room was full of dresses like Jisoo's in all sizes, along with all the underthings, stockings, and shoes that one might possibly need. Moonbyul grabbed a measuring tape and started taking Jisoo's measurements. Jisoo wasn't used to being touched that much, so she closed her eyes and took deep, calming breaths. After three or four breaths, she noticed that Moonbyul had stopped measuring her. She opened her eyes and saw the other woman staring intently at her.

"Are you all right?" Moonbyul asked.

"I think so," Jisoo said. "I just don't really like people touching me so much."

Moonbyul laughed. "That's funny," she said, "because I don't really like touching people that much! We'll make the perfect roommates! But I've got to touch you some in order to measure you for your uniform. So just keep doing whatever you were doing with your eyes closed and we'll get through it as quickly as we can."

Jisoo nodded and closed her eyes again. Moonbyul stared measuring her again. After a few minutes, she noticed that Moonbyul was no longer measuring her, so she opened her eyes and looked around. Moonbyul was walking around the room, talking to herself, taking items off of shelves and down from hanging rods. After a few minutes of this, she stood in front of Jisoo holding a towering stack of clothes. "Here you go! Two uniform dresses, four sets of underthings, one pair of shoes, plus special outfits for riding and exercise."

Just then a bell rang. "We took longer than I expected!" Moonbyul said, thrusting the stack of clothes into Jisoo's arms and beginning to blow out the candles. "That's the first bell! We've got exactly 15 minutes until second bell, when we have to be lined up outside the dining room. If we rush we can get you into your uniform and get down there in just enough time!" By this time Moonbyul had blown out all the candles, so she shooed Jisoo out of the uniform room and shut the door behind them. "Hurry!" she said urgently, "let's get back to our room and get you dressed. Like I told Solar, it would never do for you to be late for dinner your first day here."


	2. Jisoo's first dinner at Madame Park's, and the consequences thereof

Working quickly, Moonbyul helped Jisoo into her uniform. To be honest, Jisoo probably could have gotten dressed more quickly by herself - Moonbyul was kind of clumsy, and tended to accidentally unfasten as many buttons as she fastened. When they finally had everything ready, they rushed down the stairs and skidded to a stop at the end of the line of students just as the second bell rang. Jisoo looked out of the corner of her eye at her classmates and tried to emulate their perfect posture: Head up, shoulders back, spine straight, and so forth. Just then Madame Park entered the room and began walking down the line of students, inspecting them. "Yes... yes... yes... very nice... Rose, your dress is getting a little tight. Until further notice you have to take a walk between breakfast and the start of class, and you shall have no desert on odd-numbered days... Stand up straight, Lisa - no slouching... Much better than yesterday, Moonbyul..." And then Madame Park was standing in front of Jisoo. She looked Jisoo over from top to bottom and back again. "Hmmm... some minor adjustments needed to uniform and posture, but all in all not bad for your first day."

Madame Park opened the double doors at the end of the parlor, revealing the dining room, all silver and crystal, with more candles than Jisoo had ever seen in one room. "OK girls, file in and take your seats." Jisoo started to panic - she had no idea which was her seat! Trying to still her heart, she watched the others file in and tried to figure out which one would be hers. It ended up being rather simple - the students filed down opposite sides of the table, left, right, left, right, and so on. Those at the head of the line sat near the head of the table, while Jisoo, as the last person in line, sat at the very end of the table. Observing the others, she stood behind her chair, hands demurely clasped in front of her, and waited.

Madame Park took her seat at the head of the table, then told the girls "You may be seated."

Moving quickly, but without seeming to rush, the girls all sat down in their chairs. Jisoo tried to emulate the others, but she knew she didn't quite have the hang of it when her chair made a scrape sound as she scooted it in. Ignoring Jisoo, Madame Park turned to Moonbyul. "After dinner, 10 minutes practice getting into and out of a chair." Jisoo felt horrible. Her first evening at school had barely started and she had already gotten her roommate punished. She resolved to try even harder to be perfect the rest of the meal. Looking down, her stomach sank: Rather than the spoon and chopsticks she was expecting, there was a knife and an assortment of spoons on the right side of her plate and an assortment of what could only be forks on the left side. She had read about this in Miss Jane Austen's books, but she had no idea how to actually use them.

Madame Park rang a little bell that sat on the table by her plate and two servant girls came in, bearing trays with bowls of soup. After placing a bowl in front of each person, they bowed to Madame Park and left the room.

Madame Park looked up and down the table. "Can anyone tell me what kind of soup this is?"

The girl near the head of the table who Jisoo assumed must by Jennie piped up right away. "It's French onion soup, ma'am."

"Very good. And can any of you tell me how Jennie knew that?"

This time Solar answered. "By the cheese and bread floating on top of it, and the smell of beef broth and onions."

"Very good. Remember, girls: Even if you life never depends on you knowing these things, the success of your mission very well could."

Mission? This was the first Jisoo had heard of any sort of mission! She looked across the table at Moonbyul, who simply mouthed "Later," then turned her attention back to Madame Park.

"You may begin."

Copying the other students, Jisoo picked up the spoon furthest from the plate and began eating. The soup was wonderful - it coated the inside of her mouth with a fatty lushness that made every soup she'd had before seem thin and watery by comparison. If all the food here at Madame Park's was this good, she understood why Rose was gaining weight, and hoped it didn't happen to her. Much sooner than she would have liked, the bowl was empty. Jisoo momentarily wished for more of the delicious soup, but upon surveying the number of spoons and forks remaining, she reflected it was probably a good thing that there wasn't more of the soup. Before the meal ended they had been quizzed on and then eaten a cold salad, a poached fish, beef Wellington with au gratin potatoes, a cheese and charcuterie tray, and tiramisu which, it being an odd-numbered day, Rose didn't get any of. Jisoo was able to recognize the beef Wellington from having read about it, so she was able to answer one question, but when she mis-identified the potatoes she and Moonbyul were sentenced to 20 minutes in the library looking at cookery magazines, to be served as soon as they finished their 10 minutes of chair practice. Jisoo quietly apologized to Moonbyul, who told her it was okay. She was introduced to her neighbor, who was Hwasa, and Moonbyul's neighbor, who was Wheein, and if they hadn't spent the entire meal in fear of further punishment from Madame Park, it would have been quite an enjoyable meal.

 

"And that's ten minutes," Moonbyul said.

"I never could have imagined there was so much to learn about getting into and out of a chair," said Jisoo.

"Oh, this is nothing," Moonbyul replied. "My first night here the chair made a horrible screeching noise as I pulled it in. I had to do 30 minutes of chair practice for 3 nights."

"Doesn't that strike you as kind of extreme?" Jisoo asked, picking up a candle to light their way to the library.

Moonbyul shrugged. "Madame Park has very definite ideas of how things should be done. She's not happy with anything less than perfection. Turn left at the next corner."

As she and Moonbyul made their way through the darkened corridors to the library, Jisoo thought over her experiences so far, trying to figure out exactly what sort of school she'd been sent to. "What was that Madame Park was saying about our mission?"

"I'll tell you once we're in the library," Moonbyul said, taking the candle and opening a door on the right side of the corridor. Once she was inside, she flipped a switch and a warm glow filled the room from glass fixture mounted on the ceiling. Moonbyul blew out the candle. "The library is one of the parts of the house that got the new electric lighting."

Jisoo looked around, her eyes agog. She'd read about electricity in the newspaper, but no one in her village had ever gotten any. "It's not dangerous?" she asked Moonbyul, thinking of an article she'd read about an electric chair that was used to execute criminals.

"Perfectly safe," Moonbyul said. "As long as you don't mess with the bulbs, the electricity stays inside the wires and it can't hurt you." Moonbyul grabbed an issue of a magazine, seemingly at random. As she brought it to the table, Jisoo saw that it was a magazine called "Fine Cuisine." Moonbyul sat down at the table and gestured for Jisoo to sit down next to her. "That shelf is all the cooking magazines. You'll learn your way around the library soon enough, but I'm guessing you don't want to spend your first evening at school cooped up in here."

"Okay," Jisoo said, sitting down next to Moonbyul. "Now, you were going to tell me about our mission?"

"Right," Moonbyul said, opening the magazine to a random page near the middle so it would like like they'd been studying if anyone checked on them. Jisoo looked up at the clock on the wall and made a mental note of the time, so they'd know when their 20 minutes of library work was done. "I don't think I'll get in trouble for telling you this," Moonbyul said. "Madame Park told it to all of us within our first week at school. Just, if she tells you, act live you've never heard it before, okay?"

Jisoo nodded.

"According to Madame Park, all the kings and presidents and ministers and parliaments don't really run the world. They're actually controlled by a number of secret societies, who are in competition to see who'll really be in charge. Madame Park's Academy is run by one of these societies. One we graduate, we're to be married off to powerful men. And maybe that's the end of it - maybe we live out the rest of our lives completely ignorant of what the societies are up to. Or maybe one day we get a message from the society with a mission they want us to carry out."

Jisoo looked perplexed. "What sort of mission?"

"Maybe they'll want you to make a copy of some papers from your husband's study. Or maybe you're to see to it that a certain powerful person hears and believes a certain rumor. Or maybe you're to put on a disguise and take a more direct action."

"Direct action? Like what?"

"Well," Moonbyul said, casually turning the pages in the magazine, "Madame Park never tells us about the missions that previous graduates have had to do, but our curriculum contains a number of unusual things that give some clues."

"Like what?" Jisoo was rapidly become less perplexed and more horrified.

"Toxicology," Moonbyul said. "Fencing, shooting, scientific boxing."

Jisoo waited for Moonbyul to say she was joking, but she never did. She felt a chill run down her spine.

"Now," Jisoo said, "we'd better get to studying. I don't know how she does it, but Madame Park always seems to know everything that's going on in this house."

 

After the finished studying the cookery magazine, Jisoo and Moonbyul lit a candle, turned off the electric lights, and made their way down to the drawing room." Jisoo stopped upon entering the room and looked around. Like the library, the drawing room had electric lights. By one of the fireplaces there was a cluster of chairs suitable for sitting and talking. There was a card table, where several off their classmates were already engaged in a game. By the other fire place, there was a writing desk, where Wheein was busily engaged, and a number of comfortable chairs for reading. Jisoo recognized a number of fashionable magazines and newspapers on a side table and hoped she'd have a chance to read them.

"AH, there you are," said Madame Park. "I hope your practice has been beneficial. Solar, why don't you yield your place? I think Jisoo would like to play cards." Jisoo was about to say she'd rather read when she noticed that Solar had quickly gotten up from the table, and Moonbyul elbowed her in the ribs to keep her quiet. Apparently Madame Park's suggestions had the force of commands. Jisoo vowed to pay attention to this in the future, so as to hopefully stay out of trouble. She took the place at the table that Solar had just vacated.

Jennie was sitting to her left. She looked at Jisoo as she shuffled. "You do know how to play whist, I assume?"

Jisoo nodded. "Of course."

"We shall see," Jennie said, as she started to deal the hands. "We'll just pick up where where we were rather than starting over. We're playing to ten. Rose and I have three points, you and Lisa have two."

Jisoo picked up her cards and looked at them. Both teams being equal in honors, they then turned to the tricks. Jennie and Rose were obviously skillful players - they took two tricks for every one that Jisoo and Lisa took. Jennie and Rose won the first game, then the next two after that. During the fourth game, Jisoo thought she noticed something irregular when Jennie was dealing the cards. Looking more careful she saw that she was write - Jennie was dealing her cards and Rose's from the bottom of the deck and Lisa's and Jisoo's from the top of the deck.

"Excuse me," Jisoo said. "I'm not familiar with the house rules, but is it usual for one team's hands to be dealt from the bottom of the deck while the other team is dealt to in the usual manner?"

Jennie put the deck down and laughed. "Took you long enough," she said. "I've been doing that all evening, and you just now noticed? I had hoped you might exhibit something in the way of promise, but it looks like you're perfectly suited to be Moonbyul's roommate."

"Now girls," Madame Park said, "I'll not have that sort of sniping going on amongst you. Even if there is an element of competition while you're here, once you get out into the world you'll all be on the same side and you'll all need to be able to rely on each other." After pausing a moment to let this sink in, she said "I'm inclined to think that Jennie's remark was a consequence of not enough sleep. Perhaps you should all go to bed now, in hopes you'll be in better spirits tomorrow."

"Yes, madame." The students all immediately left off what they were doing and started making their way to their bedrooms.

 

As she and Moonbyul gotten dressed for bed and settled in underneath the blankets, Jisoo asked "What did Jennie mean by saying I was perfect to be your roommate? And why did Madame Park take issue with that?"

Moonbyul leaned over and blew out the candle before answering. "I tend to be somewhat clumsy in some of the physical exercises, so some of the girls at the head of the class have taken to treating me as if I'm kind of slow."

Jisoo felt indignant on her friend's behalf. "We can't let them do that! We'll show them!"

"No, it's not like that," Moonbyul said sadly. "Madame Park's favorites always rise to the top of the class, regardless of what happens. You'll see. Now go to sleep - we have to get up very early in the morning. And when you get cold - and you will - you can scoot up against me for warmth. I think Madame Park deliberately keeps the house too cold so that we'll come to depend on each other, but it's miserable when you're the odd girl out and don't have a roommate."

"Well, you've got one now," Jisoo said, "And we'll do whatever we can to make things better around here. Surely things can't be all bad."


	3. Jisoo's first scientific boxing lesson, and what happened after

The next morning Jisoo was awakened early by the bells of the clock. She was surprised to discover that during the night she had scooted over next to Moonbyul and wrapped her arms around her. She poked her head up above the duvet and shivered.

"I was right," Moonbyul said, "you're a cuddler. It certainly keeps one warmer during the night." She scooted out from under the duvet and started getting dressed. "I know some of the girls do more than just cuddle, but I don't like to do that. I hope you don't mind."

Jisoo wasn't sure exactly what Moonbyul was talking about, so she just got out of bed and started getting dressed.

Once they were both dressed, they headed down to the dining room.

"Good morning," Wheein said. "It's oatmeal this morning."

The disgusted tone with which Wheein said this led Jisoo to expect the worst of oatmeal. It wasn't actually that bad - a sort of thick, bland porridge, improved greatly by the addition of raisins, cinnamon, and sugar from the platter in the middle of the table.

Once all the students were eating, Madame Park walked in. "Good morning ladies," she said. "Who knows what class you'll be starting with this morning?"

Moonbyul's hand shot up at once, but Madame Park ignored her, waiting for another girl to raise her hand.

Madame Park acknowledged Solar. "First we've got scientific boxing today," the pink-haired woman said, "followed by fencing. Then after lunch we've got geography and current events, followed by a study period before dinner."

"Very good," Madame Park said, clapping her hands daintly. "You'd all do well to pay as much attention to the calendar as Solar does."

Solar looked down the table at Moonbyul and smiled a simpering smile. Moonbyul just looked back at her, blinked a couple of times, then went back to her oatmeal.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

After breakfast they had a short break before classes began, during which Moonbyul showed Jisoo more of the academy.

"Why didn't Madame Park call on you when she asked about the calendar this morning?" Jisoo asked, when they were on the hall containing the guest bedrooms and she was pretty sure they were alone.

Even given the unlikelihood of there being anyone else around, Moonbyul stopped and looked all around her before answering. "It's like I told you last night - Madame's favorites always rise to the top of the class. You've seen it in action now - I knew the answer just as well as Solar, and I knew it faster than she did. But because Madame favors her, she's second from the top of the class, while I'm temporarily second from the bottom."

Jisoo shook her head at the unfairness of it. "What do you mean 'temporarily'?"

"Just you wait," Moonbyul replied. "By the end of the week Madame will have found an excuse to move you up so that I'm at the bottom of the class again." Moonbyul paused for a moment, apparently deep in thought. "The key will be to see whether she moves you up one spot or more than one. If it's just one, then she's probably planning on keeping you down here with me. If it's more than one, then you're on your way to being a favorite, or at least in the top half of the class." Moonbyul looked up at the clock at the end of the hall. "We'd better be heading to class - there are few things Madame dislikes more than tardiness."

They quickly made their way down the stairs, then along the back corridors until they stood before the doorway of the balloom, which until the next ball had been pressed into service as both boxing gym and fencing salle. Rose reached the door at the same time they did, and they all walked in together.

Jisoo couldn't help but stand and look around - she'd never seen anything like this. Stands along one wall held swords of all descriptions. In several places around the room bags hung from stands, awaiting something, though she wasn't sure what. All the other students were already there, wearing padded leather helmets and bulky padded leather gloves.

"Jisoo, get over here!" Moonbyul called.

Jisoo hurried over to an equipment rack at the side of the room, where Moonbyul fitted her with a leather helmet and leather gloves, then started dressing herself in this costume, which was apparently required for scientific boxing.

"Go over by the others," Moonbyul said. "I'll be there as soon as I get my gloves on."

Jisoo walked over to the other students, when her forward progress was sudden stopped by Jennie tapping her in the chest with her glove.

"Hey new girl," Jennie called out. "I dare you punch me in the face."

Jennie had thrown her head back laughing at this, and so didn't see Jisoo draw back her arm and send it flying forward with all of her strength, slamming directly into Jennie's jaw. Jennie staggered back a couple of steps before suddenly sitting down on the pads which apparently marked out the area for boxing practice. More quickly than Jisoo would have thought possible, Jennie was back on her feet again, standing in front of Jisoo, thumping her in the chest with her gloves.

"You got in a lucky hit," Jennie said, "but I bet you can't do it again."

Jisoo, having long since had enough of the head girl's attitude, drew back her fist, waited for the opportune moment, and then slammed her hand forward into Jennie's nose. Jennie once again suddenly found herself sitting on the mat, a thin trickle of blood running down her upper lip. Her scramble back to her feet was interrupted, however, by a voice coming from behind Jisoo.

"Ladies! I am shocked."

Jisoo turned partway around, so that she could see Madame Park while at the same time keeping an eye on Jennie.

"You are here to learn scientific boxing, not to brawl like common hooligans! Moonbyul, you will spend the entirety tonight's study period in the library, reading aloud from the Marquess of Queensbury Rules, so that any students who need to learn them may come and hear."

Jisoo looked over at Moonbyul, who just shrugged.

"Now," Madame Park continued, "everyone form up in a single line facing me. Advance your right foot and raise your hands in a defensive posture." After the students had formed themselves into a line sorted by class rank, Madame Park walked down the line, correcting everyone's position as needed. When she reached Jisoo, she stopped in front of her, looked her up and down and asked, "You have, I assume, studied scientific boxing before?"

"No ma'am," Jisoo admitted.

"Hmph." Madame Park did not seem pleased by this fact. "Well, at any rate, your defensive posture is excellent. Apparently you have some degree of natural talent. Hopefully it will serve you well in the drills and a sparring."

They spent the next hour in drills. Jisoo had no idea there were so many different variations on stepping forward, stepping backward, and punching with one hand or the other, but by the end of it her arms felt like they were made of lead.

"Now, ladies, drilling is over. It's time for sparring." Madame Park gestured at the area in front of her. "Form two lines, lower half versus upper half. When I ring the bell, begin. When I ring it again, stop and the lower half advances to the right, as in a reel."

When they had sorted themselves into lines as instructed, Jisoo found herself on the leftmost end of her line, facing off against Lisa. Suddenly the bell rang. Jisoo jumped into a defensive position, then tentatively advanced on Lisa. The younger woman had been kind of Jisoo when they had been playing cards the night before, and Jisoo really had no wish to punch her. She made a tentative feint, only to have Lisa's fist slam forward into her face, knocking her head back. Madame Park rang the bell furiously, temporarily halting the fights.

"Jisoo, you hesitated. Lisa should not have been able to hit you like that." Madame Park looked disapprovingly at the whole group. "In the training ring, hesitation can cost you a bruise, possibly some demerits. But once you leave her, the price of hesitation could be your life or, even worse, your mission. When a woman faces you in combat, she is your enemy, even if you had dined at her table an hour before. Now, start over, and let me see no more hesitation."

Madame Park rang the bell again and Jisoo turned and advanced on Lisa. Any attempt that Lisa made to move out of a defensive posture was met with a flurry of blows from Jisoo. Lisa hadn't been able to throw another punch, much less land one, when the bell rang signaling the stop of the bout. Jisoo shifted down so that she was facing off against Rose and Hwasa came around to take the position Jisoo had just vacated. When the bell rang again, Jisoo advanced on Rose, landing and receiving blows in turn. Jisoo and Rose were approximately evenly matched, and when the bell rang to stop the bout, no clear winner had emerged.

Jisoo shifted down and faced off against Solar. Gone were the friendly smiles that had marked the pink-haired woman's face previously, replaced by an animal intensity. As soon as the bell rang, Solar feinted with her right hand, then as soon as Jisoo's attention moved that way, punched her with the left. She repeated this pattern several times, and Jisoo found herself woozy from the repeated strikes to the head. The next time Solar feinted with her right hand, Jisoo turned her attention to the left, only to discover that this time the right-handed punch was genuine. Solar's fist crashed into Jisoo's face, rocking her head back. Suddenly it was like a red veil had come down over Jisoo's vision. With an animalistic yell she jumped toward Solar, landing a series of punishing blows to the body that left the other woman curled up in a ball, whimpering. Even when the bell rang, Jisoo continued punishing her opponent, and it took both Moonbyul and Hwasa to pull her off.

"That will be enough sparring for today," Madame Park announced. "Solar, go get checked out by the nurse before fencing class today. Jisoo, go with her and make sure she makes it there safely."

Jisoo felt a momentary twinge of disappointment at not getting to face off against Jennie again, but when she saw the hesitant way Solar looked at her, she put that thought aside. She quickly put away her helmet and gloves, and left the ballroom with Solar. The nurses's office hadn't been one of the places Moonbyul had shown Jisoo before class, so Solar had to lead the way. On the way they had to go up a narrow spiral staircase. In the middle of the staircase, Solar turned around to face Jisoo, her left arm cradling her ribs.

"What the hell was that back there?" she asked, her pain obvious on her face.

"I... I don't know." Jisoo responded. "I've never done anything like that before."

"You can't lose control like that," Solar said. "Madame Park throws us against each other full strength. We've had to figure out how to look like we're fighting full strength but really pulling our blows, otherwise someone would have been seriously injured by now, or worse." She leaned in and lowered her voice. "There are rumors that in some of the earlier classes, not all the students lived to see graduation."

Jisoo blanched upon heading this. "I had no idea," she said. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

Solar smiled weakly. "I'll be fine," she said. "I have worse beatings than this." Seeing the look of horror on Jisoo's face, she went on. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, this isn't a normal school, and Madame Park isn't exactly sane. You're going to have to learn how to survive here."

She turned and started walking up the stairs again. She hadn't gone more than a handful of steps when she whirled back around and leaned in close to Jisoo again. "Everything I told you a moment ago about not fighting your hardest?" she said softly. "That doesn't apply when you're up against Jennie. Jennie's just as crazy as Madame Park, and when she comes at you, she's coming with everything she's got. Everyone here has had to find their way to survive. Mine is by learning all my lessons and being a teacher's pet. Moonbyul's is by pretending to be slow, so Madame Park doesn't expect much from her."

"What's Jennie's way?" Jisoo asked.

Solar shook her head. "Jennie doesn't survive here. She thrives here. She's Madame Park's perfect little soldier. If you go head-on against Jennie, it won't stop until one of you is dead." Nodding decisively, Solar turned and resumed climbing the stairs.


End file.
